ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

On the day my mother asked me to find her father who had disappeared when she was just two, I set off on a journey armed with less than a handful of clues—his first and last name, a faded photo of a thirty-ish looking man in a uniform, and a membership to Ancestry.com.

None of this would have been possible without the generosity of friends, family, and strangers who shared their time, care, and support to help me dig for information and break through many of the roadblocks I faced in the search. I’d like to thank the genealogy group at the Irish American Heritage Center in Chicago who teamed up on many occasions to pour through documents and help me start building the story of my ancestry. I’d especially like to thank Virginia Gibbons and the memoir-writing group who patiently listened to my readings about my grandma and grandfather and encouraged me to keep on writing and searching. Who would have known that over the course of three years, I would discover that one of the members would turn out to be my cousin.

I have to thank Marion Collins, Paddy and John Barry, and the members of the book club at Paddy’s on the Square/The Irish Boutique in Long Grove, Illinois who have become friends and family over the past ten years. I am forever grateful for the support of the “Marys, Marions, and Mariannes” in our club who helped me find and discover the places both my grandmother and grandfather lived on our several treks to Ireland.

Thank you to my brother, Paul, sister Sheila, and sister-in-law Beth who so enthusiastically responded to my emails and texts in response of each new discovery. And, thank you to my children, Caitlin, Thomas, and Emily, nephew Michael, and grandchildren, Rylee, Tommy, and Keira, who will carry on the legacy of our ancestors for generations to come.

I appreciate the guidance and support of Hannah Bennett and the editors at Start Publishing for their guidance and patience in bringing this book to life.

A heartfelt thanks to all the people who generously shared themselves and their stories with me, and to the ancestors who came before them who brought to life these stories.

Lastly, thank you to my grandmother, for inspiring me to wonder and search, to find meaning in and complete the stories of those from where we come.